meragrin_ (u/meragrin_)

meragrin_ commented on Funding Open Source like public infrastructure dri.es/funding-open-sourc... · Posted by u/pabs3

opendomain · 12 days ago

I agree completely.

20 years ago I gave Dries the domain Drupal.com for free to support open source.

I recently gave the domain MrBeast.org to Beast Philanthropy.

But more important than Open Source is Freedom. I recently acquired the domain antifascist.org to fight the rise of fascism. This will be a website to share information on protecting your loved ones - it will be open source in that everyone can contribute.

I welcome anyone that wants to help - send an email or use the contact form on the website.

meragrin_ · 12 days ago

> fight the rise of fascism.

Where?

meragrin_ commented on US reportedly forcing TSMC to buy 49% stake in Intel to secure tariff relief notebookcheck.net/Despera... · Posted by u/voxadam

CGMthrowaway · 21 days ago

>I'm kinda of shocked that chip & many tech companies play ball..

Have you heard of this story? https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2007/10/qwest-ceo-nsa-punished...

The only telecom in America to resist turning on a domestic eavesdropping firehose tap for the government, was pounded to the edge of bankruptcy.

Intel and TSMC are both strategically important and favored-status corporations for the going concern of the United States, and large swaths of the federal appartatus are invested in their success, contracts, global projection, etc. That comes with a price. Naive to think they are independently operated companies.

meragrin_ · 20 days ago

> The only telecom in America to resist turning on a domestic eavesdropping firehose tap for the government, was pounded to the edge of bankruptcy.

How so? There was no mention of the government taking action against the company to cause the company to fail. If a company is failing without government contracts, that is on them and not the government.

meragrin_ commented on A big problem for Tesla isn't getting much attention cnn.com/2025/07/22/busine... · Posted by u/breve

cwoolfe · a month ago

Governments also subsidize gasoline.

meragrin_ · a month ago

How so? Please give very specific answers which don't include the normal business practices afforded to every other business or incalculable garbage.

meragrin_ commented on Impacts of adding PV solar system to internal combustion engine vehicles jstor.org/stable/26169128... · Posted by u/red369

jwr · a month ago

When I looked at the title, I immediately thought that even if this makes sense from an engineering standpoint, psychology is going to be the bigger problem. For some reason many people are hell-bent on burning fossil fuels, almost in a sect-like belief kind of way. I do not understand it, but the backlash against anything electric for example is real.

meragrin_ · a month ago

Or maybe you are just blind to the realities of normal people. Most people are not hell-bent on burning fossil fuels. There are numerous valid reasons for people to continue to choose ICE. I want an EV. I want to dump every piece of outdoor equipment with an ICE for something with an electric motor. I very much prefer the pieces I have switched to electric. I've been wanting to make the switch for years. It just does not make sense for me at this time.

meragrin_ commented on U.S. will review social media for foreign student visa applications npr.org/2025/06/19/g-s1-7... · Posted by u/BeetleB

diegof79 · 2 months ago

Related news coverage:

https://time.com/7297472/jd-vance-meme-mads-mikkelsen-touris...

A tourist got his entry denied after a search on his phone.

According to the tourist, it was because of that meme. According to the CBP, it was because of his past drug use, and a photo related to that was on his phone. Which one is right? I don’t know. The situation wasn’t clear, so it made the news. Those phone searches are the perfect excuse to deny your entry. The reason for the denial wasn’t apparent, which is why it got to the news (by the way, I read the news a week ago, before the CBP response, which I read while finding you the link to the news).

As a foreigner who travels to the US from time to time, that makes me uneasy. It only takes a friend to send a photo or meme through WhatsApp to get you in trouble.

meragrin_ · 2 months ago

> It only takes a friend to send a photo or meme through WhatsApp to get you in trouble.

Does it? The particular meme which was claimed to be the issue is something the administration and people on the right enjoy. I can't see anyone on the side of the administration being vindictive for having that meme.

https://x.com/JDVance/status/1898372454235451694

https://youtu.be/ejIPG8-rm7k?si=0nsvoalAz6XvLFE3&t=240

https://youtu.be/pmM6N1XxHjc?si=JO5teQIikHXfXnEW&t=80

meragrin_ commented on U.S. will review social media for foreign student visa applications npr.org/2025/06/19/g-s1-7... · Posted by u/BeetleB

diegof79 · 2 months ago

From the article:

“(…) officers have been instructed to look for any indication of 'hostility' toward the U.S. or its people, although it did not provide further details of what exactly that could mean.”

When the search is open-ended and under the officer's criteria, anything can be an excuse to revoke a visa. Recently, there was news about a visitor rejected because of a JD Vance meme, so this is not hypothetical. It is also the perfect excuse for racism: If I don’t like your face, then let me do a deep search of any comment or meme that you liked in your social media history.

For example, this comment in a public thread can be read as “hostile,” as I’m implying a critique of the current government. Even if that happens in exceptional cases when the officer has a bad day, it has a chilling effect because you’ll be extremely careful of what you say on Internet forums if your goal is to apply for a visa.

meragrin_ · 2 months ago

> Recently, there was news about a visitor rejected because of a JD Vance meme, so this is not hypothetical.

Everything I've seen indicates the administration and the right love those JD Vance memes. Why would they reject "one of their own"?

meragrin_ commented on ICEBlock, an app for anonymously reporting ICE sightings, goes viral techcrunch.com/2025/07/01... · Posted by u/exiguus

mikestew · 2 months ago

In reference to the app developer: we are looking at it, we are looking at him, and he better watch out...

So they're not even trying to disguise the fact anymore that they're a bunch of goons? And this, coming from a person that went to law school.

Meanwhile, I'm going to download the app right now. Thanks, Streisand effect!

meragrin_ · 2 months ago

> Meanwhile, I'm going to download the app right now. Thanks, Streisand effect!

You know they could be going for the Streisand effect. I'm sure there are plenty of people willing to add false incidents to reduce the effectiveness of the app. Nothing will get those people riled up like a court ruling in favor of the app. In the end, it could work to the administration's favor to have the app up and running. Nothing like acting all offended in public then celebrating privately as unnecessary fear and confusion sets in with false reports.

meragrin_ commented on ICEBlock, an app for anonymously reporting ICE sightings, goes viral techcrunch.com/2025/07/01... · Posted by u/exiguus

chasd00 · 2 months ago

yeah, i'm certainly not the "police officers are biggest monsters in the history of the universe" type but this app seems like a nothing burger from a legal standpoint. If there was an ice raid near me i'd like to know so i can avoid the traffic. Besides, people have to report the sighting when they see it so it's not like it gives a warning to a raid before it happens, only during or after the fact.

meragrin_ · 2 months ago

> If there was an ice raid near me i'd like to know so i can avoid the traffic.

So a traffic app?

meragrin_ commented on Amazon Wants to Be a Satellite-Internet Powerhouse. It Has a Long Way to Go wsj.com/business/telecom/... · Posted by u/fortran77

willglynn · 4 months ago

This is not discretionary for the FCC:

> A station authorization shall be automatically terminated in whole or in part without further notice to the licensee upon:

> …

> (d) The failure to maintain 50 percent of the maximum number of NGSO space stations authorized for service following the 9-year milestone period as functional space stations in authorized orbits, which failure will result in the termination of authority for the space stations not in orbit as of the date of noncompliance, but allow for technically identical replacements.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B...

_Congress_ can change this, but as written, Federal law compels the FCC to automatically terminate the authorization for failing to deploy half the satellites under 47 CFR § 25.161(d), just as they must automatically terminate the authorization when the license expires under 47 CFR § 25.161(b).

meragrin_ · 4 months ago

Bureaucrats write what falls under the CFR. Congress writes the US Code. Unless there is something in the US Code which specifies the period in which the licensee must have 50% of the satellites in place, the bureaucrats can change the rules in the CFR. Somehow I doubt Congress was that detailed. They likely just passed the buck to let the bureaucrats specify the details.